Everett Young

Col. Everett Young

WARNING: SPOILERS

The following article contains SPOILERS. Proceed at your own risk.

Summary

From MGM: Far into an impressive Air Force career, Col. Young took a step back to oversee Icarus security in hopes that he could spend more time with his wife. Reluctantly thrust back into a leadership role, he does his best to watch over those stranded, both civilian and military. Torn between what’s best for survival and what’s most likely to get them home, he comes into constant conflict with both Rush and Wray. Like a father figure to Lt. Scott and others on the ship, his actions don’t always follow his advice.

Personal Data

• Birthday:
• Birthplace:
• Marital Status: Married, Emily Young
• Children: None
• Parents:
• Siblings:
• Stargate Program Rank: United States Air Force Colonel
• Stargate Program Position: Commanding officer of Icarus Base and by circumstances, leader of Destiny

Stargate Command

Col. Everett Young was the first choice as the leader of the expedition team that would step through the Stargate to the nine-chevron address that was found in the Ancient Database (in Atlantis). He was hand-picked by Gen. Jack O'Neill of Homeworld Security, the US governmental organization that oversees the Stargate Program and all others that come from it, but Young turned him down, saying, "I don't think it's still in me, sir." (Stargate Universe: 1.07 "Earth")

Young had lost his confidence after something happened to those under his command while he was the leader of an SG team (see casting breakdown in Further Reading section below). Even with this in his record, O'Neill still wanted him to be the leader of the Icarus Project's expedition, so there had been apparently no official declaration of the losses' being Young's fault. Even so, he felt the weight of it. (Stargate Universe: 1.06 "Water", 1.07 "Earth", 1.10 "Justice")

The command of the expedition was given to Col. David Telford, instead. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Young was still attached to the Icarus Project, so O'Neill gave him command of Icarus Base, which was built on a planet that had the right conditions to draw power from its core to give the Stargate the massive amount of energy to dial the great distance a ninth chevron required. The day that Young told his wife that he was taking a new command, the two had a bad argument. Emily wanted him to have a position that gave them more time together, perhaps even resigning his commission, while Young tried to reassure her that he was not choosing his job over her and that it was just for one more year. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.07 "Earth")

Icarus Base and Destiny

Six months into his new assignment, Icarus Base was attacked. He had told his wife that it was safe, but now everyone was scrambling for their lives as energy blasts from the enemy ships bombarded the planet. Only a few hours before the attack, Young had welcomed Senator Alan Armstrong, Chloe Armstrong, and Eli Wallace to the base to witness the dialing of the nine-chevron code. Senator Armstrong was in charge of the $1.6 billion that had already been put into the Icarus Project and he was there to celebrate the realization of its goal. The attack changed all of that. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Dr. Nicholas Rush was the lead scientist in the Icarus Project, and he had dedicated his life and career to dialing the ninth chevron to its mysterious destination. The attack on the base created an overload in the power systems that were already considered unstable because of the naquadria core that was powering the Stargate to reach the inevitably large distance dictated by a nine-chevron address. With one last chance to dial the code, Rush explained that he chose the unknown destination rather than Earth, as Young had ordered for the base's retreat, because he was afraid that the imminent explosion would translate through the wormhole and harm Earth. With time running out, Young okayed evacuation to the nine-chevron destination and ordered that as many supplies be taken as was humanly possible. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Young flies through the Stargate to Destiny

Young was the last to leave Icarus before the entire planet exploded. He almost didn't make it as he was delayed while looking for the case containing a set of Ancient Communications Stones and their console. He was caught in the explosion and thrown violently through the Stargate and clear across the 'gate room on the other side. Before losing consciousness, he gave command to the fresh-out-of-training Lt. Matthew Scott. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Lt. Tamara Johansen, the surviving medic, treated him. He had a head injury that resulted in a seizure and neuropraxia, a temporary paralysis. He had cracked ribs and numerous bruises. When the ship's atmosphere was leaking from a damaged shuttle that was attached to the Destiny, Young, thinking he was no good in his condition, volunteered himself to be the one to close the door from the damaged side, but Scott and Johansen persuaded him not to because they needed him to be in command. Senator Armstrong, who had also been severely injured during the attack and evacuation, sacrificed himself instead, knowing that his own injuries were mortal. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.02 "Air Part 2")

Fortunately, Young was able to recover some of his mobility, relying on his Hekler & Koch UMP submachine gun as a crutch. (Stargate Universe: 1.02 "Air Part 2")

Young and Rush have the most intense relationship among those stranded on the Destiny. From the moment that Rush made the decision to dial Destiny rather than Earth—to go against Young's orders—the two men were at constant odds. Young second-guesses Rush's decisions and doesn't trust the scientist whenever he announces certain problems on the ship that seem counter to Young's orders. At times they seem to call a truce, usually whenever Young attempts to treat Rush with respect, but still, Young simply does not trust Rush at all. He often says to his trusted subordinates that Rush is "a lot of work." (Stargate Universe: 1.04 "Darkness", 1.06 "Water", among others)

His relationships with Lt. Scott and Sgt. Greer are far different. When he's with them, he's in command and is respected. Lt. Scott is his second-in-command, and Young expects him to answer whenever he is called. Sgt. Greer was in detention for his altercation with Col. David Telford when the Base was attacked, and Young freed the soldier and dropped the charges. Since that time, Greer has become Young's chief enforcer. When they thought that they were going to die when the Destiny was heading for a sun, the two men agreed that Telford had it coming. Young called Greer a "good man" and Greer saluted his commanding officer for what he thought was the last time, apologizing for disappointing his commander. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.02 "Air Part 2", 1.04 "Darkness", 1.05 "Light")

When Telford first body-swapped with Young with the communication stones, he treated Young's injured body so severely that Johansen gave him a sedative instead of the pain killer he asked for. The second time they swapped, however, Telford used the crutch. The ship was in dire condition, having depleted a good portion of its energy reserves, and Telford was so horrified at the situation that he wanted Young removed from command. When Young heard of Telford's demand, he actually agreed with it, but the link was terminated before any actions could be taken toward that end. (Stargate Universe: 1.03 "Air Part 3", 1.04 "Darkness")

Young tells his wife Emily about his situation

While in Telford's body, Young had the chance to visit his wife Emily. She kept her distance and told him she didn't believe that the man standing before her was her husband—she was actually seeing Telford. She was so angry and distraught at the news that she could barely continue the conversation. Young tried to reassure her that he'd do everything he could to get back home, but she didn't seem convinced. He told her he loved her, but she didn't say the same. And when it was all said and done, Emily wished for his safety, but didn't appear to want to wait for his return because she sincerely believed he wouldn't be coming back. (Stargate Universe: 1.04 "Darkness")

Young thought the same at the time. The ship was heading for a sun. Eli Wallace wanted to record a message in a bottle through the use of the Ancients' floating camera device that Eli called a "kino". Young's words in his farewell recording: "Hi, Emily. I just…um…I just wanted to say, um, well…you know…" (Stargate Universe: 1.05 "Light")

After sending Scott, Johansen, and fifteen others to a nearby planet in the only working shuttle, Young calmly saw to the safety of everyone else before he went into his quarters, cried while holding his wedding ring, and laid down on his bed to await the end...which didn't come. To everyone's surprise, the Destiny normally flew into stars in order to recharge its power reserves and the ship came through without a problem. They recalled their shuttle and continued on their way. (Stargate Universe: 1.05 "Light")

They had handled finding calcium carbonate for the air scrubbing systems and energy for the ship's power reserves, but the stranded crew had more problems that threatened their survival. Their water supply was dwindling so rapidly that Young had Eli use the kino to spy on people to find out who was hoarding it. In the meantime, he was feeling recovered enough to go with Scott to the next planet where the Destiny had indicated that pure water existed. They found it in the form of ice on a planet that had a thin and poisonous atmosphere. The two men used Ancient protective suits to go to the planet to harvest the ice. After Scott fell through the ice and got stuck in a crevasse, Young opted to spend his remaining hours of oxygen trying to free Scott rather than load up a second batch of ice, even though Rush urged him to do otherwise for the sake of the rest of the people who were depending upon him to bring in the water. Young had experienced "too many times" in the past when he had lost people and he refused to let this be another such instance. (Stargate Universe: 1.03 "Air Part 3", 1.05 "Light", 1.06 "Water")

Young regularly reported to O'Neill through the use of the Stones, and one day, O'Neill announced that scientists had found a way to get the stranded crew home through the Stargate. Drs. Williams and McCormick had devised a procedure that would draw energy into the Stargate while the Destiny was making a recharging trip through a sun. Young was not very confident in this plan and wanted to give the crew a vote and more time, but O'Neill said that to do so would be disobeying a direct order. The IOA, which controlled much of the funding of the Stargate Program and even had one of their civilian representatives in command of Atlantis Base, was pushing for the scientists' procedure to be done immediately, hoping that it would lead to Telford's team's eventually taking control of the Destiny by rigging a Daedalus-class starship with the same type of energy-capturing technology. (Stargate Universe: 1.06 "Earth")

While Telford switched bodies with Young to oversee the procedure, Young once again had a chance to visit Emily. They actually ended up having sexual intercourse, which was accidentally interrupted when the Destiny's FTL went in and out. Telford was stunned to find himself in bed with Emily. Afterwards, Young and Emily had some quiet time together, and they finally got to address some of the issues of their relationship that had caused Emily so much distress. Everett had had an affair with Lt. Tamara Johansen during his time on Icarus. Emily had forgiven him and they were in the middle of trying to work things out when Young was stranded on Destiny. (Stargate Universe: 1.06 "Earth")

Young addresses crew after efforts fail to dial the Stargate to Earth

The scientists' procedure failed because Rush, projecting that the "experiment" would cause an uncontrollable power surge, rigged the Destiny in such as way as to make Telford, Williams, and McCormick believe they were about to blow up. The three immediately severed their communications links with Young, Eli Wallace, and Chloe Armstrong, effectively "abandoning ship". Later, Young reported that the surge was put under control and, feeling more in command of the situation, asked that his people be given continued use of the Stones to visit their loved ones. IOA representative Dale Strom was about to put conditional use of the Stones in response, but O'Neill quickly spoke over Strom and gave Young permission. (Stargate Universe: 1.06 "Earth")

Knowing of Everett's affair with Tamara, Telford tried to put a wedge between Emily and her husband by telling her that Everett and Tamara were still sleeping together now that both were stranded on the Destiny. His personal motivations may have been to pursue Emily himself, but Telford has stronger military-oriented motivations, having already tried several times in the past to take command of Destiny even while in Young's body. Young became aware of Telford's maneuverings, so when he had the opportunity to physically confront the man, he took it. He caught Telford outside Emily's house and proceeded to punch him down to the ground. (Stargate Universe: 1.09 "Life")

Rush and his science team discovered a room that had the precursor to the Ancients' Repository of Knowledge, a neural interface that downloads knowledge into the user's brain. O'Neill himself had had two downloads from a Repository and would have died if it had not been for the Asgard who rescued him by removing the data (see "Ancient Knowledge and Technology" and "Repository of Knowledge" articles for a history of these events and the technology). Young knew the dangers of the technology and insisted that Rush find a safe way to download the data without having someone sit in the chair. (Stargate Universe: 1.09 "Life")

Rush input false data and then told everyone that he had found a planet a year away that was just like Icarus Base so that he'd get continued cooperation in trying to access the chair's database for the navigational command codes, but Young exposed everyone to Rush's lie. Rush, feeling that Young was getting in the way, saw an opportunity to get rid of the colonel when he discovered Sgt. Spencer's body after the soldier committed suicide with his own handgun. Rush planted the gun in Young's quarters and after a search was conducted, Young was forced to step down and await trial. He put Camile Wray in charge and Rush immediately asked to merely have control over his science investigations and she quickly agreed. Wanting desperately to get home, one of Rush's team members, Dr. Jeremy Franklin, sat in the chair and took the download, but he was left in a deep catatonic state. Young was angry with Rush and blamed him for Franklin's actions. (Stargate Universe: 1.09 "Life", 1.10 "Justice")

Young sits alone after abandoning Rush on a planet

In the meantime, a planet with a crashed alien spacecraft was found, so Young and Rush went to the planet toward the end of the countdown. Young sent the team back to the Destiny while he and Rush remained. Young told Rush that he knew that he was the one to frame him because of some recovered kino footage, and Rush admitted that he felt that Young was the wrong man for the job. He pointed out Young's past weaknesses when he said, "You resigned your position as SG leader because you didn't want to make the hard decisions—the life and death decisions." Young started a fight. He had an advantage over the smaller Rush, and asked him if they were done. But Rush angrily told him that they would never be done, at which point, Young rendered Rush unconscious and abandoned him on the planet, telling the Destiny crew that the scientist had fallen in a rock slide and that he himself barely made it through the Stargate before the countdown ended. Later, Young had Eli Wallace transfer the video evidence to a thumb drive and erase all other records of Rush's scheming against him. (Stargate Universe: 1.10 "Justice")

Hobbies and Other Interests

• Extramarital Affair with Lt. Tamara Johansen: While married, Young had an affair with his subordinate officer, Lt. Tamara Johansen, sometime during their six-month assignments on Icarus Base. Johansen resigned her commission to accept a scholarship to medical school in Seattle, Washington, but her transfer hadn't come through at the time the Base was attacked. After Telford and Young continued to have their rivalry, Telford tried to put a wedge between Emily and Everett by telling her that Young and Johansen were still sleeping together now that they were both stranded on Destiny. Young denied this and even physically assaulted Telford the next time he had a chance to body swap with a soldier on Earth. Johansen keeps their relationship in check by performing her chief of medicine duties and following Young's orders as his subordinate officer. Young gave command to Johansen when he went to the ice planet with his second-in-command Scott, since she is of the same rank as Scott. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.04 "Darkness", 1.06 "Water", 1.09 "Life")

Injuries, Illnesses/Sicknesses, Deaths

• Injured during evacuation of Icarus Base: Young was the last to leave Icarus Base through the Stargate because he stayed behind to look for and obtain the case containing the Ancient Communications Stones and their console before going to an unknown destination. As he was running up the ramp, he was thrown violently through the Stargate and clear across the 'gate room aboard the Destiny. His injuries were serious. He had several cracked ribs, was severely bruised, and had a concussion that resulted in neuropraxia. He suffered a seizure and temporary paralysis and had to resort to using his Hekler & Koch UMP submachine gun as a crutch. When Telford first did a body-swap with him via the Stones, Lt. Johansen gave him a strong sedative to prevent Telford from doing more harm to Young's body. Telford was more accommodating during his next swap by using the crutch Young asked him to use in a hand-written note he had left near the Stone's console. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.03 "Air Part 3", 1.04 "Darkness")

Key Episodes

• SGU 1.01 "Air Part 1"
• SGU 1.02 "Air Part 2"
• SGU 1.03 "Air Part 3"
• SGU 1.04 "Darkness"
• SGU 1.07 "Earth"
• SGU 1.09 "Life"
• SGU 1.10 "Justice"

Gallery

• MGM: Character Profile and Gallery

Related Characters

• Alan Armstrong
• Chloe Armstrong
• Dr. Jeremy Franklin
• MSgt. Ronald Greer
• Lt. Tamara Johansen
• Dr. McCormick
• Lt. Gen. Jack O'Neill
• Dr. Nicholas Rush
• Lt. Matthew Scott
• Dale Strom
• Col. David Telford
• Eli Wallace
• Dr. Williams
• Emily Young

Related Articles

• Ancient Communications Stones
• Ancient Knowledge and Technology
• Ancient Shuttle
• Ancients
• Atlantis Base
• Destiny
• Destiny's Planets
• Homeworld Security
• Icarus Base
• Icarus Project
• International Oversight Advisory (IOA)
• Kino
• Repository of Knowledge
• SG Teams
• Stargate
• Stargate Program

Further Reading

• Col. Everett Young: 40’s handsome, capable, former SG team leader. Like the Jack O’Neill of ten years ago, but Young’s edges have tended to sharpen over time. He requested permission to serve the remainder of his commission on Earth upon marrying his wife, Hailey, two years ago, but for now he’s temporary commander of a secret off world base. The loss of two members of his team several years ago has taught him never to take anything for granted, and be prepared for anything. He stays on top of his team so they stay alive. (Casting Breakdown)
• "Colonel Everett Young is the commanding officer on Icarus Base when this series of events forces us through the Stargate and they end up aboard this ship, the Destiny. And then, of course, within that, I, as the colonel, certainly take it seriously the responsibility of that. But boy, do I respect the man that I play; there's a lot of strength and stillness in him." (Louis Ferreira, MGM Character Profile video)
• "If we start at the top in terms of crew ranking, Colonel Young is my character’s nemesis, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s quite serious. These guys are not having a petty conflict. Without giving too much away, there’s an episode, which we’ve yet to shoot, where a tragedy takes place aboard the Destiny and Rush tries to frame Young. They hate each other that much. Young is a soldier, while Rush is a scientist, and they just don’t get one another. As soon as they end up on the Destiny, the colonel is all about getting everyone home, and Rush is all about ‘How do we avoid that?’ So they’re against each other from day one and that’s been developing beautifully over the past six or seven weeks of filming." (Robert Carlyle, Reprint: Official Stargate Magazine Interview, Issue 29, July/August 2009)
• "TJ had an affair with her colonel so that's kind of a very icky subject because he's her senior and that relationship is sort of dealt with and it's a little bit of an elephant in the room. You're military and then you're stuck on a ship in the middle of space with a guy you had an affair with, that's weird." (Alaina Huffman, Moviehole interview, August 11, 2009)

Actor

• Louis Ferreira

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--DeeKayP 10:17, 21 July 2009 (UTC)